The Library

The Torah says Haggar put Yishmael under a tree, walked two bow shots away so as not to see him die from thirst and sat down to cry. The malach opened her eyes and she saw a well. The pasuk says: "She walked, she filled up her water skin, and gave the boy to drink." Wher...

I noticed a very interesting thing in one of the Yom Kipppur Piyutim we say tonight. "We are like raw material in the hands of the creator... When he wants, he makes the vessel big, and when he wants, he makes it shorter (than normal)". "We are like stones in the hand...

Yomim Noraim is not meant to be a time of pressure. It's a time of great simcha and opportunity. First, on Rosh Hashana, we coronate the King over us. Then on Yom Kippur, we get forgiven for the whole year's sins, like a filthy child whose father gives him a shower once...

We are told to pray on Rosh Hashana to be given life for the rest of the coming year and to beg Hashem for a good, easy, and successful year. But that is poison for myself and the addicts I know. Fortunately, there is a dissenting (or maybe clarifying) opinion: R. ...

Dear Hashem I have a lot of feelings on his day of mourning yet I’m not sure how to express them. I’m going to try and explain what’s going on inside me and hopefully it will bring me to some clarity and direction. Last night in Shul we read Eicha; we asked how You, Who h...

I slipped during last summer on a trip to Las Vegas. At every level of this disease, when you fall you fall at a higher level and its easier to cope and get back up. (Sheva Yipol Tzaddik V'kom - a Tzaddik falls seven times and gets up again). I had stopped going to m...

Question: It's coming now kabalas hatorah, and I need a paradigm shift in saying "naseh venishma". I am being bothered by something that keeps coming to mind every so often, especially when learning about kedusha/aroyis or saying nase venishma to the whole Torah. Please d...

Question: Pesach is coming up. This means that I will not be able to shave until lag baomer. I have never done this before as I have always been worried about looking weird. Can you give me an idea of how to have an attitude that I will actually keep the omer properly? I ...

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Barditchov (1740-1810) was one of the great spiritual masters of his generation. One Passover, following an emotionally charged Seder, the Rebbe was told from heaven, that Mosheleh the water carrier's Seder was superior to his. "This year," he was i...

QUESTION: In Elul, we blow the shofar every weekday, except one day - the day before Rosh Hashana. Why? ANSWER: The shofar represents our collective crying out to G-d. A cry from such a deep place in us that there are no words. A cry for connection, to be seen, to be ...

For today's Chizuk e-mail, I point you to an inspiring article written by Tzvi Fishman on his Arutz Sheva Blog: At the center of this month’s Torah readings is Yosef HaTzaddik. The Holy Zohar teaches that Yosef earned the esteemed title of Tzaddik because he guarded the...

R' Nachman of Breslov writes "Because the organ of the Brit is associated with the sefirah of Yesod, which is the foundation of all of the sefirot (Divine illuminations), in atoning for sexual transgressions a person rectifies his entire spiritual blueprint". The Sfat Eme...

Taken from Tzvi Fishman's Blog on Arutz Sheva, at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/4 Slaughter the Trojan Horse! Everyone's final judgment is hermetically sealed and handed over to the Heavenly Tribunal on Hoshana Rabbah. Many Jews will stay up all nigh...

Join the Worldwide YEshiva Shovavim Initiative at shovavim.org - "YES we can!" We are now in the period known as Shovavim, which is a unique and auspicious time to do Teshuvah. The word Shovavim alludes to the verse "Shuvu Banim Shovavim" which means "Return, wayward chi...

Chanukah is an opportune time to work on sexual purity. Here are some excerpts from an article by Tzvi Fishman. At the center of the Greek plan to uproot the Torah from Israel was their strategy to lure the Jews into sexual transgression. The Jewish People's belief that G...

Excerpts taken from Tzvi Fishman's Blog This Shabbos is Parshas Zachor. The Torah commandment states: "Remember what Amalek did to you by the way, when you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you by the way and smote the hindmost of you, all that were feeble in and trail...

In honor of Chodesh Adar, let's try a new approach to "letting go" of non-Kosher tensions; "Happiness"! The entire world is in pursuit of this elusive prize, but for us Jews, Happiness is not just a means to fulfilling selfish interests, it is a Mitzvah in it's own right!...

Today is the second day of Adar Alef, which equals = 208 = the name of Pinchas, who was zealous in tikkun habris and killed Zimri when he sinned with the Midianite woman. We too, need to be zealous in fixing ourselves. Sometimes, a person thinks that if he strengthens him...